The Ninja Apprentice: The Lost Scrolls of Fudo Shin

by Jon F. Merz

  “This thing?”

  Vanessa grinned. “We’re heading into the mountains, don’t forget. It takes a different train to climb the heights we’ll be heading for. Iga is a very interesting place, indeed.”

  “I can't wait to see it." He swung aboard the train and followed Vanessa down the narrow aisle toward seats at the back of their car.

  “This will take several hours. The train won’t go nearly as fast as the shinkansen did. Best to get your head down and grab some rest while you can.”

  “I’m not really tired.”

  Vanessa frowned. “Jimmy, take it from me. If you get the opportunity to grab rest, grab it. You never know when you might be able to get more. Same goes for eating and going to the bathroom. Always take advantage of a break in the action to get yourself sorted.”

  “Did your dad teach you that?”

  “He did. And then the experiences I had in real life reinforced it. Trust me, you don’t want to be in the middle of a fight wishing you’d used the loo when you had a chance.”

  Jimmy smirked. “Guess not.”

  Vanessa pointed. “Back of the train you’ll find one you can use.”

  Jimmy pushed past her and as he did, she smiled. “Don’t be surprised with what you find in there, okay?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You’ll find out.”

  Jimmy sighed and moved to the back of the train. When he pushed the door to the bathroom open, he saw two footprints set into the floor and then a hole. “Are they kidding?” He frowned and fumbled with his zipper. On cue, the train jerked suddenly as it moved out of the station. Jimmy barley had time to put one hand up to stop his fall, but he managed ot stay upright and finish his business.

  “How’d that work out for you?” asked Vanessa when he returned.

  “I guess we’re not in Tokyo anymore,” said Jimmy. “Not exactly what I expected to find.”

  “You’ll discover that once you get out of the major cities and towns, the countryside is like being back in time. Especially the region we’re traveling to. It’s very ancient. A land of legends and superstitions. They’ve got crazy fog out here that seems to have a mind of its own. The woods are supposedly full of terrifying creatures that will eat you if you’re not careful.”

  Jimmy cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah, okay, that’s going a bit too far. You should have just stuck with the legends and stuff.”

  She smirked. “Can’t blame a gal for trying.”

  “Trying to do what-scare me? After all the other insane stuff I’ve seen so far? You’d really have to come up with something spectacular. You know, like some crazy dude climbing aboard the train and attacking us.”

  Vanessa laughed. “Oh that would be something, wouldn’t it?”

  “Sure make the time go by quicker,” said Jimmy. “Guess I’ll get some rest like you suggested.”

  He rested his head against the window and stared out of the glass. The sun was setting quickly, turning the area around the train one of inky shadows. They had already passed out of Nagoya and Jimmy saw the dim outlines of farms in the distance. They’d been set almost into the sides of the hills and the landscape seemed to be changing now. He could feel the start of the train beginning to climb in altitude.

  “How far up are we going anyway?”

  Vanessa shook her head. “I’m not too sure exactly how high up the region lies, but we’ll be trekking through mountains. Must be at least several thousand feet up, I’d expect.”

  Jimmy yawned. It had been a long day and the events back in Tokyo seemed like they’d happened years ago now. He saw the image of Hanzo’s store burning to the ground. And then he saw the image of Hanzo’s face in his mind, dying.

  He shuddered. That wasn’t how he wanted to go out. Of course, he doubted Mr. Hanzo had wanted to die that way as well.

  Jimmy fell asleep soon after and the motion of the train’s wheels over the old tracks lulled him into a deep slumber. Images and visions rushed at him while he slept, but he found he could make sense of nothing.

  “Jimmy.”

  He felt Vanessa elbowing him hard in the ribs. “What-? That kinda hurts, you know.”

  “Wake up.”

  Something in her voice made him snap his eyes open. The interior of the train car was completely dark except for a single red light toward the front. All around them, Jimmy could hear the snores and heavy breathing of their fellow passengers who had fallen asleep.

  “Are we there yet?”

  “No,” said Vanessa. The edge in her voice made his heart beat faster.

  “What is it?”

  “We’ve got visitors.”

  “Someone on the train?”

  Vanessa nodded. “Better get yourself ready. I don’t think they’re exactly the friendly type.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “They?”

  Vanessa pointed and in the almost non-existent light, Jimmy could make out two shapes lurking near the end of the car. Vanessa leaned closer and whispered. “We can’t take them here, there’s not enough room to maneuver.”

  “Where then?” Jimmy took a breath to still his thundering heart.

  “By the bathroom. You go first and I’ll pretend you’re taking too long and go find you.”

  “You think they’ll fall for it?”

  “They’ll have to. If they’re here for us, then they’ll need to follow. Once we get them in the next car, we can take them on from there.”

  Jimmy frowned. “The aisle’s going to work against us just as much as it will them.”

  “We’ll worry about that when the time comes. Got your hanbo ready to go?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Make a big show of yawning.”

  Jimmy shifted and then opened his mouth, letting out a gasping yawn. He sucked in a lot of air and tried to flush his system with as much oxygen as possible. He’d need it for the coming fight.

  He stood and pushed by Vanessa, who pretended she was annoyed with him moving. “What?” said Jimmy. “I’ve gotta use the can.”

  He headed into the next car with his hanbo in hand. His palms felt a little sweaty so he wiped them on the back of his pants.

  Jimmy glanced back but could see nothing of where he’d come from. The car was enveloped in darkness. All of those people, thought Jimmy, and they don’t even realize what’s going on.

  He turned back toward the bathroom and made a show of entering it for a moment, before ducking back out and waiting behind a row of seats.

  Vanessa came through a moment later and behind her, Jimmy could just make out two shapes disengage from their hiding spots, following her. Vanessa moved into the car and as she passed Jimmy whispered. “Be ready.”

  She pounded on the door. “Hurry up in there.”

  Jimmy felt the presence more than saw them coming, but then they were out of the passenger car and into the restroom area.

  “Jimmy!”

  He sprang out from behind the seat and swung the tip of the hanbo around aiming at the temple of the lead attacker. He connected and heard a grunt before the shape simply dropped.

  Vanessa had reversed direction and leapt over the fallen attacker to engage the one behind. Jimmy saw flying punches and kicks as Vanessa worked to subdue the attacker.

  Jimmy started to advance to help when he felt a hand around his ankle. Looking down, he saw that his attacker wasn’t unconscious after all. And worse, there was a wicked looking knife in his hand.

  Jimmy slammed the base of the hanbo down on his wrist and heard the bones pop and the attacker grunt in pain. The knife went clattering away.

  Another body came flying over toward the bathroom and Jimmy ducked. Vanessa ran past chasing the attacker she’d just thrown. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

  Jimmy brought the tip of his hanbo under the chin of his attacker and used the staff to muscle the man up. His eyes blazed with hatred and he seemed clothed entirely in black.

  “Easy Jimmy.” Vanessa’s voice behind him made
him pause, but he kept the hanbo right where it was. If he needed to, he could thrust it right in at the attacker’s throat and collapse his trachea.

  “Mine’s already unconscious, seems that throw didn’t do him any good. Shame about that.”

  Vanessa pulled out a folding row of seats and pointed at Jimmy’s attacker. “Put him down there.”

  Jimmy used the hanbo to shove the attacker back. The man clutched his broken wrist and sat.

  Vanessa leaned back. “I’d say that went about as well as could be expected. Nice work.”

  Jimmy kept his eyes on the man seated in front of him. “Who are they?”

  “Well, now that’s a very good question, indeed. Let’s find out, shall we?” She leaned closer and pulled the mask off the attacker’s face. Jimmy heard unleash a volley of rapid-fire Japanese.

  The attacker remained motionless and refused to say anything. He just kept staring at Jimmy.

  Vanessa backed away. “Not very much into talking this one, is he?”

  “Doesn’t seem to be. Likes to stare at me, though.”

  Vanessa sighed. “It’s a shame when they don’t want to cooperate.” She walked closer to the attacker and then grabbed his broken wrist and squeezed it.

  The attacker screamed and tried to pull away, but Vanessa had an extremely strong grip. Jimmy had felt it enough times when they’d been training aboard the Kage Maru. If she didn’t want that guy escaping, there was no way he’d be able to free himself.

  The attacker kept whimpering as she applied more pressure. She started asking him more questions in Japanese. This time, Jimmy recognized more of the words and got a sense of what she was asking him.

  “Who are you? Who sent you?”

  The attacker refused to answer.

  Vanessa shook her head and kept up the interrogation in Japanese. “If you don’t tell me what I want to know, I will crush your bones together and you’ll never recover.”

  The attacker shifted under Vanessa’s grip, which was still like a vise.

  Vanessa sighed. “Last time I’ll ask, sunshine. If I don’t get the answers I want, consider yourself crippled for life.”

  “Our names are not important,” said the attacker finally.

  Vanessa let his wrist drop against the side of the seat. He clutched it back against his chest.

  “Who sent you?”

  “You know who sent us.”

  “Kotogawa.”

  Jimmy shivered as if someone had just run ice up his back. Even the name seemed sinister.

  Vanessa eyed him. “You all right?”

  “Yeah.”

  She turned back to the attacker. “How did you find us?”

  “Hanzo. Told us you would be coming. He was weak. Couldn’t take the pain when we questioned him.”

  Vanessa nodded and then brought her knee right up into the attacker’s chest where he clutched his wrist. He howled in pain and his eyes rolled back white before he managed to regain his composure. Sweat ran down his face.

  “Your own tolerance level doesn’t seem all that impressive,” said Vanessa. “Who knows, maybe Hanzo held out longer than you did.”

  “The boy will never succeed. You know this. You will die.”

  “Is that so?” Vanessa nodded at Jimmy. “Seems to me that he just got the drop on you fairly easily. I’m not so sure your boss will be pleased with your failure. He’s not exactly the understanding type, is he?”

  The attacker’s eyes blazed and he spat at Vanessa. “I will look forward to killing you one day.”

  Vanessa got her arms under him and helped him to his feet. “Yes, yes, I’ve heard it all before, love. Now, unfortunately, it’s time for you to be going. Would love to have you stay for a nice cup of tea, but we’ve places to go and people to see.”

  Jimmy blinked. What was she going to do?

  “Jimmy, be a dove and get the back door there, would you?”

  “The back door?”

  “Open it.”

  Jimmy backed away and opened the rear door. The train wheels clacked over the rails and the cool night air rushed at his face. He saw little outside except the dense pine trees and sharp peaks nearby.

  Vanessa dragged the attacker over to the door. “I do hope you’ve got decent ukemi. Otherwise the landing’s going to be quite painful. Best to keep that wrist cradled when you hit.”

  And then she shoved him off the train.

  Jimmy blinked. “Holy-“

  Vanessa leaned back away from the door. “Help me with the other one.”

  “You’re going to kill them both?”

  Vanessa looked at him. “I’m not murdering them, Jimmy. I’m simply getting them away from us. They’re both highly trained and rolling should be second nature to them. The train’s not going all that fast, anyway. I don’t know how they’ll land, but I tend to think there’s a good chance they’ll both be fine.” She paused. “Well, at least until Kotogawa finds out that they failed. After that, well, I can’t be responsible for what happens to them at that point. They made their decision to serve the wrong side.”

  Jimmy shook his head. The second attacker was now groaning and slowly coming around. Vanessa pointed at him. “Let’s get him over to the door before he has a chance to dream up some crazy escape plan.”

  “He’s not fully conscious yet.”

  “He will be soon.” Vanessa leaned close to him and spoke loudly. “All right now, are you? Good. Listen very carefully: I’m about to throw you off a moving train, so I suggest you brace yourself for the fall. Got it? Good. Off you go.”

  Jimmy watched her shove the second attacker off the train and then haul the door shut.

  “There, that handles that little mess.”

  Jimmy took a breath. “I guess I wasn’t expecting you to be so-“

  “-vicious?”

  “Yeah.”

  Vanessa nodded. “You must know by now that I will do whatever I need to do in order to make sure you stay protected. But both of those attackers were posing us no immediate and lethal threat, so therefore, they didn’t warrant a lethal response.” She smiled. “However, they were still a threat as long as they stayed on this train. And worse, they might have the potential to alert the rest of Kotogawa’s forces. He’s been known to put homing devices on his people so he can follow them wherever they might be. That’s the last thing we need right now.”

  “But won’t be find those two we just got rid of?”

  “Most likely. Although if I was in their shoes, I’d be more inclined to stay hidden for a while.”

  “Why?”

  “Kotogawa will punish them for their failure. And it will be far worse than anything we just did to them.”

  "How come Kotogawa never sends an army after us? We're only two people. If he wanted to, he could send a dozen people and we'd be screwed."

  "We're keeping ahead of him, Jimmy. That's why it's so important to keep moving all the time. If Kotogawa can't get a fix on our location, he can't send in an overwhelming force. The principle holds true in combat as well. Never stop moving. It make it harder for your attacker to land hits or grapple with you."

  "Noted, but these goons do seem to have a talent for showing up wherever we are."

  Vanessa nodded. "Kotogawa has eyes everywhere. And not just his hired killers. he has a vast network of spies - ordinary people who keep him informed in exchange for some extra money. With a fortune as vast as his is, he can afford to have spies in any place he chooses."

  "Wonderful." Jimmy glanced around. "What now?"

  “Now,” said Vanessa, “we go back and get some more sleep. The fact that they somehow made it onto the train worries me. It means we have even less time than I thought we had. If Kotogawa knows you’re bound for Iga, then he knows more about us than I'm comfortable with him knowing.”

  “Great. How soon can we get lost again?”

  “Once we finish our business at the mountain, I imagine we’ll be on our way to another location. Fairly certain of it, in
fact. Plus, we'll touch base with Merlin and Hideaki.” Vanessa waved him back toward the passenger car. “But enough of this chitchat. Let’s get our heads down.”

  “Easier said than done,” said Jimmy. Although he had to admit that the adrenaline dump he’d been expecting hadn’t materialized yet.

  More weirdness, he decided.

  “I’ve heard the name Kotogawa before,” said Jimmy. “But when you said it back there, it made my hair stand up.”

  Vanessa nodded. “Well, he’s not the nicest bloke you’d ever want to meet. Rather a nasty sort, actually.”

  “And he’s the guy who wants me dead?”

  “Yes.”

  “Wonderful. I've never even met him."

  Vanessa smiled. “Not in this lifetime anyway.”

  “What in the world does that mean?”

  “It’s a bit complicated.”

  “I’ve got time.”

  Vanessa sighed. “You killed him over three hundred years ago, Jimmy.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “I killed him?” Jimmy shook his head in bewilderment. “How is that even possible? I’m fourteen.”

  Vanessa held up her hand. “Well, not you, technically. But your ancestors did. Well, one of them, anyway.”

  “If he was killed, then how is it that he’s still alive?”

  Vanessa smiled. “That’s where things get a little…complicated.”

  “Yeah, because this whole venture has been easy to understand up to this point.” Jimmy sighed. “What makes it complicated?”

  “There are those who believe that our souls or spirits, depending on what your particular religious preference is, journey down through time and inhabit new bodies as the old ones grow old and fail.”

  “You make the body sound like a car.”

  Vanessa shrugged. “In a lot of ways, that’s exactly what it is. You put fuel into it and it carries you where you need to go. But eventually, it starts to break down, pieces start falling off, and then…well, you need a new car.”

  “And toss the old one.”

  “Yes.”

  “Into the junkyard.”

  “Cemetery,” said Vanessa. “I mean, in this case.”